As dusk approached, the sky was painted red by fiery clouds.
After traveling south for thirty to forty li, Lin Shan saw a low-lying city nestled among the mountains in the distance. Descending the mountain along a winding path, he could clearly see the two large characters "Yongchang" above the city gate from afar.
He found a woodcutter's family outside the city and was told that the seat of Zangke County was about a hundred li further south from Yongchang County.
Having expended a great deal of energy on the road today, Lin Shan naturally didn't want to sleep outdoors. He discarded the Escort Agency's clothes he was wearing and changed into the spare set he had in his package.
After showing his travel permit to the guards, he entered the small county town without incident.
He found a restaurant in the , ordered a lavish table of dishes, and after eating, found an inn, booked a room, and took a comfortable bath.
After all, with money in his pocket now, Lin Shan's courage naturally grew.
…
At night, Lin Shan lay on the inn bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
After all, it was his first escort mission, and he had experienced the great terror between life and death. Anyone would find it hard to sleep.
He got up and went to the inn's backyard. At this moment, the bright moon hung high, countless stars dotted the sky, and crickets chirped softly in the summer night. The outlines of the surrounding mountains outside the city were clearly visible.
Lin Shan practiced Eternal Spring Skill in the courtyard for a while, then took out the hexagonal token he had obtained during the day from his embrace. "Soldier 21" was engraved on it, and this token had been found on the short, stout man.
The other token, "Soldier 25," from the tall, thin man, had already been absorbed by him for its Ancient rhyme during their journey, turning into ashes and dissipating.
Lin Shan pondered quietly in the courtyard. After hearing Master Pu's description of the assassin organization "Nightingale" during the day, he felt uneasy.
Would those assassins come looking for him on his trip to Zangke Commandery?
If he threw it into the deep mountains and old forests, he might not find it later. It would be more suitable to find a reliable place to hide it first and then retrieve it when his martial arts improved.
After all, if he could use this to access more tokens in the future, he might be able to find more "Ancient rhyme."
His own strength was still too weak.
As he thought, he didn't know when, but the surroundings suddenly became terrifyingly quiet. The previous chirping of insects also disappeared, and an eerie atmosphere spread.
Lin Shan vaguely felt the token in his hand becoming somewhat hot.
Following a mysterious intuition, he turned his head and saw a figure standing on the wall, directly in the center of the full moon.
He held a sword in his embrace, and as the evening breeze blew, his robes fluttered.
"Black clothes, long sword."
Despite it being a cool night, Lin Shan's forehead in the courtyard was covered in fine beads of sweat. His eyes were fixed on that figure, and he dared not move.
Because he had just seen this figure earlier today in the valley dozens of li away. This person's powerful killing of Chief Wang, a first-rate expert, left a deep impression on him.
That's right, it was the leader of the black-clad bandits!
Lin Shan's mind was blank at this moment, and he had no time to think.
Just then, the figure in the moonlight reached out to him from afar, and a low voice came.
"Give it to me."
Lin Shan instantly woke up, his mind turning. He immediately knew what the other party was referring to and quickly threw the token in his hand into the air.
The black-clad leader reached out and drew it in from afar. The hexagonal token immediately defied the downward trajectory of a projectile and flew directly into his hand.
After looking at it for a long time, the low voice sounded again,
"Fatty Li was one of the few good hands under me, and he actually died at the hands of a mere youngster who had just entered the Qi Exchange Realm."
"Interesting."
Talking to himself, the black-clad leader chuckled in a low, cackling manner, making Lin Shan's scalp tingle.
Fatty Li? Was it the short, stout man from the forest during the day, who was in the Viscera Refining Realm?
That's right, possessing internal martial arts and palm techniques must have been thanks to the black-clad leader; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so difficult to deal with.
Lin Shan was now drenched in cold sweat and dared not refute anything. He had originally thought of studying it himself before finding a place to hide it, but he hadn't expected the other party to arrive so quickly!
Now that he was alive and the token was in his hand, the outcome of the matter was clear. The black-clad leader had lost a capable subordinate he had cultivated for many years, and he was likely here for revenge.
Before he could finish his conjectures, the figure on the wall cackled for a while, then suddenly flicked his hand! The token was thrown back to Lin Shan.
Lin Shan looked down at the token in his embrace, a bit bewildered.
Is he not planning to avenge his subordinate? He heard that people in assassin organizations have unpredictable temperaments, so perhaps it's understandable?
"That good-for-nothing Fatty Li, if he's dead, he's dead. Nightingale recognizes tokens, not people, so I naturally won't bother pursuing it."
After speaking, the black-clad leader looked him up and down, a sharp glint in his eyes, as if he had seen through the abundant Innate True Qi within his body. After a slight thought, he nodded unhurriedly.
"You have something, but not much!"
Lin Shan: "???"
As these words were uttered, coupled with his silhouette under the moonlight, the black-clad leader's aura of looking down on everyone else as trash radiated outwards. Lin Shan, with his transmigrator's Soul, felt the unknown factors in his genes stir restlessly.
He was just about to step forward to try and get closer.
The black-clad leader leaped down directly, pressed one hand on his shoulder, and without waiting for him to say anything, lifted him over the wall. Using the lightness technique common in the martial world, he jumped from rooftop to rooftop across the city.
Feeling the receding night scenery around him, Lin Shan felt like a chick caught by an eagle. His entire body's True Qi remained motionless, clearly his Dantian had been sealed.
He was disheveled by the wind the whole way. Finally, as Lin Shan felt dizzy, he sensed they had reached their destination, and he was directly thrown into a new courtyard by the black-clad leader.
At this point, his True Qi could circulate again. He shook his head and got up, finding dozens of pairs of eyes staring at him eerily.
"..."
Lin Shan now saw clearly: there were over twenty black-clad figures sitting cross-legged in the courtyard, all of whom he had encountered in the valley during the day.
Life was truly this strange. He saw them in the day, and then again at night, not to mention they were about to become allies.
"This is the new kid. I happened to pick him up on my way. He'll replace Fatty Li from now on. Tomorrow's mission, he's with you all. Behave yourselves until the mission is complete! If I find anyone making a move…"
The voice from outside the wall gradually faded away. The black-clad leader had clearly gone somewhere. Before leaving, he was quite considerate, throwing a black robe with a hood and face covering onto Lin Shan's head.
This… this counts as… joining Nightingale? Is it that simple? Get a uniform upon joining the factory?'
Lin Shan hesitantly put on the assassin's outfit, somewhat disbelieving his experiences tonight.
He had just decided to venture into the martial world during the day, and at night, he was captured by the Nightingale leader, pushed into it without any room for regret.
Coming back to his senses, he saw dozens of pairs of eyes still staring intently at him, giving him a feeling of being spied upon. He immediately shivered.
Fortunately, the many assassins were just curious about him. After watching for a while, they no longer paid attention and closed their eyes to rest and recuperate. Only one person kept staring at him, as if wanting to slice him into a thousand pieces.
Huh, this person looks somewhat familiar…'
Although everyone wore black face masks and head coverings, Lin Shan, upon closer inspection under the moonlight, saw a scar extending down from that person's brow.
'Holy crap! Scarface!'
Lin Shan's heart trembled! Good heavens! He actually ran into this guy again!
Life truly is impermanent, like a large intestine wrapping a small intestine!
Scarface on the opposite side was still glaring fiercely, wishing he could swallow him whole. Lin Shan had no doubt that if not for the leader's words just now, Scarface would have pounced on him to fight.
After all, Scarface was almost killed by him during the escort robbery during the day. No one would easily let that go. Even if Scarface himself said he had let it go, Lin Shan would suspect whether this guy would secretly stab him later!
This wasn't a matter of being petty. After all, everyone in the martial world knows that any potential threat must be nipped in the bud. After all, one only has one life, and no one dares to gamble on human nature.
'So, this grudge is settled. I'll take the initiative when I get the chance.'
Lin Shan schemed in his mind how to find an opportunity to get rid of Scarface, while withdrawing his gaze and calmly adjusting his breathing.
On the other side, Scarface was gnashing his teeth in hatred: 'Good kid, just robbed during the day, and joined the organization at night. I didn't expect him to be a tough nut; I misjudged him!'
Scarface also muttered inwardly, secretly regretting being too agitated earlier, which had prematurely exposed his presence. Given this kid's shrewdness, he would definitely guess who he was, but there would be plenty of opportunities later…
As he thought, a sinister arc formed at the corner of his mouth under the black hood.